I feel the comments of O Ward and Lenny Gilroy regarding Ms Lawson awaiting surgery for the removal of excess skin due to weight loss to be understandable to a degree.

I myself lost a lot of weight and have been left with the same problem.

I was referred to a consultant with the intention of having the same surgery as Ms Lawson.

However, the risks to me made it not worth pursuing. That was my choice.

Throughout all of this I never for one moment forgot about all of the problems going on in the world, the soldiers in Iraq, the lack of midwives, the cash for honours etc.

We all in our day to day lives think about how bad this world we live in is.

However, we have also got to lead our lives as normally as possible.

This is not a detraction, this is quite simply a coping mechanism for us to carry on.

We have the news 24 hours a days shown to us.

But it's a comforting feeling when for a brief moment you can keep the news condensed down to what's going on in our own area - be it bad or good, very often good.
K Jackson,
Kentmere Place,
Peterlee.